Northern News Services

Yellowknife (June 08/05) - Is there more than one way to pluck a duck? Students from Ndilo and Dettah were ready to find out during the sixth annual cultural event at the Yellowknife River.

Emily Black was one of the participants in the annual duck pluck contest held by the Kawtay Whee and Kalemi Dene schools.

"We follow the Dene calender of traditional activities and this is the season for duck plucking," Angela James, principal at Kalemi Dene school in Ndilo.

Tables were gathered in a large circle and students set out to pluck one of about 30 ducks, shot by Trevor Lizotte especially for the event.

"It takes about 10 minutes to pluck a duck and 15 minutes for a goose," he said, as feathers flew everywhere.

For student Wilfred Crapeau, it was a first-time experience.

"It's fun. I'm pulling all the feathers out," Crapeau said. It wasn't the first time Shelly Goulet plucked a duck, and she wasn't happy to repeat the experience.

But for the most part, students were keen to pluck their ducks feather-free before singeing them over an open fire.

Their efforts were judged and the team of Dezmon Nitah, Justina Johnson-Black, Carla Rabesca and Briese Beaulieu was declared the winner.

James said the ducks will be used in a soup, which the students will prepare for a community feast.

But it's not just the practical side of food preparation the students engage in, she noted. "We also introduce a little bit of the spiritual side," she said.

"We pray and thank the Creator for the ducks and we have to pay the land.

"I'll do an offering of tobacco or change or matches to the land and another prayer."